BATON ROUGE, LA—United States Attorney Walt Green announced the unsealing of an indictment returned by a federal grand jury charging THOMAS J. TANNER, JR., age 49, of engaging in a scheme to defraud his former employer, ISC Constructors, LLC, along with Chevron U.S.A., Inc., of $1,300,000.

Specifically, the indictment charges that throughout 2013 and 2014, while working as the project manager of a job site in Pascagoula, Mississippi, TANNER caused false payroll information and false documentation to be submitted to ISC and Chevron. According to the indictment, TANNER caused the false documents to be submitted via e-mail from the job site in Mississippi to ISC Headquarters in Baton Rouge, LA. Based on the false representations, TANNER unlawfully benefitted both financially and professionally over the course of approximately 14 months. The indictment charges TANNER with four counts of wire fraud, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1343. The indictment also includes forfeiture allegations.

U.S. Attorney Green stated: “Corporate fraud has increased in scope both in the United States and worldwide. Moreover, the high-speed nature of communications today has allowed corporate executives to, at times, transmit fraudulent documents via e-mail, with the belief that the documents will be quickly reviewed and approved and the underlying fraudulent scheme will not be discovered. My office will continue to devote the resources necessary to aggressively identify these schemes and prosecute those involved, as corporate fraud almost always results in the loss of significant corporate funds and, more importantly, corporate integrity.”

Assistant Special Agent-in-Charge Dan Evans stated: “The FBI New Orleans Division will continue to investigate allegations of wire fraud and similar while collar crimes that defraud Louisiana employers and residents.”

This ongoing investigation is being conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Paul L. Pugliese.

NOTE: An indictment is an accusation by a grand jury and a defendant is presumed innocent unless and until adjudicated guilty at trial or through a guilty plea.